Traces of COVID-19 have been detected in ice cream samples in China, with health authorities currently tracing those at risk of infection. According to a report from local Chinese media, three samples of the locally produced ice cream were found to be contaminated with the virus in the Tianjin municipality in northeast China.

About 4,836 boxes of the ice cream, produced by the Tianjin Daqiaodao Food Company, were said to have been contaminated, of which 2,089 have now been sealed in storage. However, 935 out of the 2,747 boxes of the ice cream that entered the market were said to be in Tianjin with only 65 sold so far. Early epidemiological investigations showed the company used raw materials including milk powder imported from New Zealand and whey powder from Ukraine in producing the batch of ice cream.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Stephen Griffin, a virologist based at the University of Leeds, doused the fears generated by the development, describing it as a one-off. “It’s likely this has come from a person, and without knowing the details, I think this is probably a one-off. Of course, any level of contamination is not acceptable and always a cause for concern, but chances are this is the result of an issue with the production plant and potentially down to hygiene at the factory.”

The virologist also explained that the temperature of where the ice cream was stored and its fat content enabled the virus to survive on the tested samples. “We probably don’t need to panic that every bit of ice cream is suddenly going to be contaminated with coronavirus,” he added.

The development has prompted authorities to place the company’s 1,662 employees under quarantine while they were also subjected to acidic testing as directed by the Tianjin center for disease control.

SOURCE: https://lifestyle.thecable.ng/extra-ice-cream-tests-positive-for-covid-19-in-china/?nonamp=1&_gl=1*1qsmlqe*_ga*NTkzODM5NjEzLjE1ODQ1NTc2Mjc.#new_tab

A jealous wife has been arrested in Mexico after she reportedly stabbed her husband in a blind rage when she found old photos on his cell phone of him having sex with ‘another’ woman – failing to realize the photos were actually of her.

The woman, identified by police only as ‘Leonora R’, was arrested last week after law enforcement were summoned to a home in the municipality of Cajeme, Sonora, to reports of a domestic dispute. When officers arrived they found that Leonora’s husband, identified as ‘Juan N’, had been stabbed multiple times on his legs and arms. The violent attack was reportedly sparked after Leonora found explicit photos on Juan’s cell phone, showing him having sex with whom she believed to be another woman.

Without giving him time to explain himself, Leonora allegedly began stabbing Juan over and over again, while hurling insults at him. Police said Juan was eventually able to wrestle the knife out of his incensed wife’s hands, and asked her what photos she was talking about. He then explained to her that the photos were actually of him and herself taken years earlier when they were just dating.

Leonora reportedly didn’t immediately recognize herself because the woman in the images was younger, thinner and wearing make-up, according to Dossier Politico. Juan told police he then explained to his wife he had recently found the images in an old email and saved them to his phone. She soon realized she was the woman depicted, reports say.

Leonora was immediately taken into custody and remains behind bars pending charges, local media say. The case has reportedly been referred to the Public Ministry of the State Attorney General’s Office. The extent of Juan’s injuries have not yet been disclosed by officials. However the man was taken to hospital to be treated for multiple stab wounds but is expected to recover.

Police were reportedly notified to the scene after neighbors heard screaming and shouting inside the couple’s home.

SOURCE: https://financialeditorial.com/news/wife-stabs-her-husband-multiple-times-after-finding-pictures-of-him-with-woman-which-was-her/

Isaac Albert, professor of African history, peace and conflict studies at the University of Ibadan, says Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, is filling the void created by the federal government on security issues. According to him, failure of the FG to take proactive measures to address security issues in the country has given rise to non-state actors like Igboho.

Igboho, who had blamed herders for contributing to insecurity in the state, had issued a 7-day notice to the Fulani community in Ibarapa to leave Oyo. The notice expired Friday, after which the youth leader stormed Ibarapa, in company of his supporters. However, shortly after Sunday Igboho’s meeting with his supporters, protesters launched attacks on a community said to be inhabited by Fulanis and set properties ablaze.

Speaking to TheCable on Saturday, Albert said FG’s failure to respect voices of governors and traditional leaders on security issues created a void. He also warned that if the present situation in Oyo state is not well addressed, it could lead to a nationwide crisis. “When political leaders fail to listen to people with state authority on how to solve a problem, non-state actors will fill the space,” he said. “What I am saying is that where you find the leadership of the country not showing respect for opinions of state governors, council chairmen and traditional rulers, private individuals typically described as non-state actors will fill that space.

“All over Nigeria, people are facing security challenges. There is collapse of security systems all over the country and in all this, there are no actionable responses of the federal government. Governor of Nasarawa just told us Boko Haram is regrouping in his state, and Zamfara is facing serious security crisis. In Ondo state, forest reserves are being taken over by career criminals.

“What we see is the FG responding to every issue that has to do with herdsmen. To me, that is a sign of collapse of a state; a situation where government cannot guarantee security for its people. That is the void Sunday Igboho is trying to fill. Igboho does not have any authority to do what he is doing. But in a situation where the state fails on security, people will resort to self help and that is what we are seeing. It is a sign of complete breakdown of law and order. You can imagine the number of young people supporting what Igboho is doing.”

Speaking on the directive by Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, and Mohammed Adamu, the inspector-general of police, to arrest Igboho, Albert stated that it would only escalate the situation. “The statutory responsibility of the IG requires him to make such order. Governor of Oyo state will be failing in his duty if he did not say what he said. If he did not say that, it could be interpreted that he is the force behind Igboho. But the security situation in Oke Ogun area of Oyo state makes the arrest order difficult to be carried out,” Albert said.

“If Igboho is arrested, I see an escalation of the problem. If he is not arrested, I also see an escalation of the problem. What we should have is a middle ground solution of the problem. That middle ground is what Adebayo Alao-Akala, former governor in the state, suggested this evening — for Makinde to call a council of state meeting of former governors and leaders of opinions in the state. That will give us a solution that will not make the situation become a big national crisis. If the IG that has not secured anywhere in Nigeria chooses to focus on Oyo state, I see the police further humiliated.

“I am not in support of Igboho, but I see a situation where the people of Oke Ogun will rise up to defend him if the police try to arrest him at present. I am addressing the reality of the present moment. The people have been abandoned. They are extorted and killed everyday. I expect the FG to begin to take proactive steps to address security issues in the country. It is not a question of issuing threats, but a question of taking actionable solutions to the problem.”

SOURCE (abridged): https://www.thecable.ng/sunday-igboho-filling-void-unaddressed-by-federal-government

Events this past week across the South-West again highlight urgency for institutionalisation of stronger security architecture to rein in crimes and criminals without regard to ethnic or religious backgrounds of perpetrators, if we don’t want the country up in flames as we pander to emotional or social-cultural attachments.

The week began with needless, wrong-footed controversy over otherwise straightforward instruction by Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, for Fulani herdsmen to vacate forest reserves within 7 days or register with rulers within their communities if they want to continue to do business in the state. However, before the end of the week, developments in Oyo State, especially revolt in Ibarapa against herdsmen believed complicit in recent killings and kidnappings by Fulani gangs in the area, nearly pushed Ondo off headlines.

Even more vexatious was a report on ordeals of some communities in Ogun, who out of frustration of perennial destruction of farmlands and livelihoods by cows, asked Fulani herdsmen in their area to look for pastures elsewhere. However, on return of the herdsmen, they were accompanied by soldiers who proceeded to brutalise villagers for daring to complain about unsavoury activities of the people being forced on their communities by the soldiers.

Yet, we must return to Ondo State for deeper understanding of insecurity now posed to the South-West by these rampaging Fulani gangs. Indeed, criminals masquerading as herdsmen became an issue when Chief Olu Falae, former presidential candidate and Secretary of the FG, was kidnapped from his farm in Ilu Abo, few kilometres outside Akure, in September 2015. Uproar generated by the abduction did not stop the kidnappers from demanding N100m as ransom. The elder statesman was eventually released on Sept 24, after payment of N5m ransom.

Criminal gangs made up of Fulani youths were also fingered in the July 2019 fatal shooting of Mrs Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Afenifere leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, and killing of a first class traditional ruler, Oba Israel Adeusi, Olufon of Ifon, in an ambush at Elegbeka, few kilometres to his town, last November. Same day, Mrs Olubunmi Ale, wife of Chief Gbenga Ale, Chief of Staff to Ondo Governor, was kidnapped at Owena on Ondo-Akure Highway. January 16, 2021, Dr. Amos Arijesuyo, deputy registrar, Federal University of Tech Akure, was also killed along Ilesa-Akure highway by bandits while returning from Ibadan to Ondo State.

Of course, there have been scores of unreported incidents of kidnappings, sometimes with victims ending up dead as a result of the inability to meet up with ransoms of their abductors over the years. This writer was also a victim alongside two others on March 22, 2020, while journeying along Ore-Omotoso-Lagos Expressway. We spent 3 days as captives in hardship and threat. I can testify that these Fulani criminal gangs have mastered the geography of forests in Ondo State. They are young individuals with inhumane attributes as criminals -they smoke, drug, beat up men ceaselessly day and night to force their demands met up, with many who cannot endure the atrocities ending up dead in their custody. I hope to do an exclusive on my experience when psychological fit.

Aside the kidnappings by Fulani gangs, herdsmen have also been indicted in the destruction of livelihoods of farmers through unrestricted grazing of animals that eat farm produce. Presently, the famous cocoa farm settlement in Ujugbere is partially abandoned because of bad experiences suffered by 3 of the farmers, led by Prince Adebo Ogunoye, who were kidnapped and released after ransom was paid in August last year. During last week’s protest in Akure, a farmer recalled how his wife died two days after she was raped in her farm by Fulani herders recently.

Many farmers are already abandoning their farms either out of fear of being kidnapped or realisation that their efforts will come to naught at the end of the day with cows eating up the crops. Unfortunately, police have not been able to respond to security challenges posed by these Fulani gangs due to their well-known limitations in personnel and resources.

As chief security officer of his state, Akeredolu cannot afford to stay idle, watching while criminals have a field day kidnapping, maiming and killing his people. Hence, the governor championed establishment of the vigilante network, Amotekun as Chairman of South-West Governors’ Forum, even standing his ground to defend the initiative against forces that seemed determined to stop its realisation.

Now, Amotekun is working in Ondo and most other states of the South-West. So far, Amotekun corps have helped in rescue of kidnap victims and even to recover cows stolen from herders carrying out legitimate business in Ondo State. Recent order by Akeredolu that herdsmen vacate all forest reserves in the state within 7 days during an interactive meeting in Akure with leadership of Hausa/Fulani and Ebira communities, was also a step in this direction. The governor also banned night grazing in the state and movement of cattle within cities and highways. This was in addition to outlawing grazing of cattle by children.

Issuing the directives, the governor noted that criminal elements had turned forest reserves in the state and across South-West into hideouts for keeping victims of kidnapping, negotiating ransoms and carrying out other deadly activities. He also noted security reports and debriefings from kidnap victims pointed to bad elements masquerading as herdsmen. There were no records that the governor’s assertion was faulted by any of his guests. And there could not have been, given that forest reserves were primarily established for conservation of indigenous plants and fauna, not cattle grazing. In any case and contrary to slanted reporting, the governor never asked herders to leave Ondo State, but only the forest reserves.

As the governor of his state, Akeredolu also has the right to make laws about forests in his state, outside the influence of Aso Rock. Ban on night grazing as well as grazing by underage children are also obviously meant to stop destruction of livelihoods of farmers by herders and attendant deadly conflicts. Many states have implemented similar steps to stop invasion and destruction of farmlands by cattle; except for the mischievous, this should not attract fear or condemnation.

The governor of Ondo State indeed deserves all support that can be given him to avoid turning forests in the state into dens of bandits and kidnappers who come out occasionally to kidnap, rob, rape and kill villagers and commuters in scores as we are witnessing in other parts of the country. Efforts of the governor to revitalise the economy of Ondo through attraction of industries into the state are already yielding fruits. A secure environment is needed if the state is to continue to be an investment destination as well as overall development of the state. This is why the governor has been passionate about efforts directed at safeguarding security of lives and property, a fact also acknowledged by the Presidency.

As a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, a former President of Nigeria Bar Association, Akeredolu is well aware of his rights and constitutional responsibilities as a state governor. He also knows that the constitution has placed the task of security of lives of everyone in his domain, including Fulani and other dwellers, in his hands. As the Ondo State Government’s 7-day grace given the herdsmen lapses, I know this is a task the governor will not shy away from, in spite the deluge of negative reactions and veiled threats by closet anarchists and enablers of crimes.

Time must start telling now !

--Oladimeji, a Senior Special Assistant on Publications to the Ondo State Governor, wrote in from Akure.


SOURCE (abridged): https://punchng.com/fulani-gangs-vs-ondo-akeredolu-will-stand-firm/

Hi Mathinips,

I'm working on a research project and would like to use some of the information in your post on the "Origin And Founders Of 150 Cities, Towns And Villages in Nigeria".

Please provide a link, or details of the source material / literature. Thanks and God bless.

Farmers, forest guards and drivers in Ondo State, on Thursday, expressed satisfaction with the 7 day ultimatum Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu gave herdsmen to vacate forest reserves across the state. The groups, who stormed Akure, the state capital, stated they were the most affected with the incessant banditry and kidnappings in the state.

While emphasizing that some of the members had been either kidnapped or killed, they said the decision taken by the state governor was done in the best interest of the people in the state. Some of the farmers said if the current state of insecurity is not urgently checked, it might lead to famine in the state, while the drivers emphasized that commercial drivers were no longer safe when driving through the state.

According to the Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, in the state, Jacob Adejo, his members need protection as herders attacked them with impunity as well as kidnapped them while going about their legitimate business.

SOURCE: https://dailypost.ng/2021/01/21/herders-7-day-ultimatum-were-fully-behind-akeredolu-he-heard-our-cries-ondo-farmers-drivers-forest-guards/

They will organise a ‘small’ social event, invite 50 -100 guests and space tables 2 feet apart. Guests will come wearing masks and have their temperatures taken at the entrance – including the asymptomatic ones. They will wash hands at the door, go in and settle down. It’s been a long hot day, so you proceed to help yourself to drinks already on your table. You pour yourself a glass and remove your face mask to drink. Music is blaring, so the server is practically within kissing distance, to hear and take your order. You’re still not wearing your mask, but it’s ok because tables are 2 feet apart, you washed hands at the entrance, your temperature read normal and you came in wearing your mask.

He proceeds to take all other orders on your table and elsewhere in same fashion. While drinking, your long lost friend walks by and you stand up to embrace each other and catch up for 5 minutes at close range because the music is loud. Your mask is still off, but it’s okay because tables have been set 2 feet apart, you came wearing your mask, washed your hands at the entrance and your temperature read ‘normal’.

Then, it’s time for the host’s dance. Many guests join in at the dance floor, gathering close together so the host can notice as they spray, congratulate and embrace them. They proceed to spray the band’s vocalist too, who unfortunately cannot sing while wearing the mask because his voice wouldn’t be ‘clean’. But you in your infinite wisdom, choose to remain in your seat for safety reasons and so you feel safe. After all, your tables have been set 2 feet apart, you came in with your mask, washed hands at the door, and your temperature read normal.

After the dance-a-thon, guests make their way back to their respective tables, the very familiar ones passing by, acknowledging you with a rub on your shoulder. One or two actually stop over and bend to give you a light hug with pleasantries. By now, your mask is neatly tucked away in your bag so ofada sauce doesn’t stain it. In fact, everyone’s mask is now either on the table, under their chin or inside their bag. But it’s okay though because tables remain 2 feet apart, you all came in wearing masks, washed your hands at the door and your temperatures read normal.

And now they’re serving small chops- different servers. These ones are actually wearing their own masks but with their nostrils in full view, gleefully distributing any and everything they might have inhaled from other tables, exhaling and collecting from yours to distribute elsewhere. But it’s cool 'cos you just remembered you have a hand sanitiser in your bag. Coupled with that, tables are still 2 feet apart, you came in wearing a mask, washed hands at the door and your temperature read normal. What again?

Anyways, party is really in full swing now because the band has rounded off, the D.J. has taken over and so has the alcohol. People are now on their feet by their tables dancing in groups to old school jams while others are trying to ‘out-shaku’ themselves to Naira Marley’s beats. The 3rd set of servers, completely devoid of face masks, have begun weaving through the small tipsy crowd to distribute fish and chips, while others are picking empty bottles off the floor. Another set has also begun distributing souvenirs.

All in all, the event was a blast, very well organised. And they even paid attention to all the necessary safety protocols.

Two to four days later, you’re down with a fever, can’t smell or taste a thing and cannot walk 3 steps without losing your breath. You’re also coughing and your throat itches like crazy. Thus, you begin treating yourself for malaria and flu. Because you’re thinking – surely it’s got to be one or the other. Because you never go out, the only place you’ve been to in the last 4 weeks was that party at the weekend, and they were very meticulous in following safety guidelines. Everyone went in wearing their masks, temperatures were taken at the door, everyone washed and sanitised their hands before entry and tables inside were spaced 2 feet apart for effective social distancing. So, how could it possibly be COVID?

Er… Should we tell them?

Wunmi Tunde-Obe lives in Lagos

SOURCE (abridged): https://punchng.com/covid-19-should-we-tell-them/

iamcee:


Embarrassment

Correct! A group of pandas is called an embarrassment. However, they can also be called a cupboard of pandas or a bamboo of pandas.

Here are some more interesting group names:

DAZZLE of zebras.
SMACK of jellyfish.
CONSORTIUM of crabs.
TOWER of giraffes.
MURDER of crows.
AURORA of polar bears.
BLOOM of ladybirds.
CONFUSION of wildebeest.
etc.

So, where did all these strange names come from?

A lady from 15th Century England called Julia Berners published a book called "The Book of Hawking, Hunting and Blasing of Arms" in 1486. In the book she listed 165 collective nouns for groups of people and animals.

In 2020, the world experienced one of the most challenging financial setbacks across critical socio-economic sectors. Nigeria was no different. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), Nigeria, whose 27% of the productive population (over 21m Nigerians) are unemployed, was further battered by an economic recession as crude oil, her primary export, slumped due to international oil market glut and price cuts.

Reports from Nigeria’s Bureau of Statistics showed that the country’s economy contracted by 6.1% year on year in 2nd quarter 2020. A lot of us went through a great deal of financial difficulties. While some bounced back, others are still recovering, and a considerable number are still in despair, unsure how to approach the new year. One crucial decision to guide our approach into the new year is deliberately choosing to develop smarter financial planning habits that insulate from unforeseen circumstances.

First you need to identify costly financial habits and understand how to avoid making the usual mistakes. These habits include not having an expenditure budget, impulsive spending, overexposure to debts, to mention a few. It might take a lot of practice and experience to develop good financial habits, but the benefits of being responsible with spending are well worth the effort. With finances under control, living becomes a lot more manageable because you will be able to keep yourself and your family debt-free, maintain the lifestyle you want and achieve financial security to guarantee a cushion against shocks.

The question now is, how do you make this happen? You could put a few things in place to help you achieve a healthy financial life, consistently and they include the following:

1. LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS
This is the foundation of all good financial habits, and it is not difficult to adopt. Do not borrow to purchase liabilities – if you must borrow to make that simple buy, it is perhaps outside your affordability threshold and you probably do not need it. Avoid schemes that end up stretching your paycheck and always stick to your limit. If you do this religiously, you will experience a dramatic change in your finances.

2. TRACK YOUR SPENDING
If you do not have a budget, you probably do not have even a remote idea of where your money is going. If you are looking to adopt a healthy financial habit, you must know that budgeting is essential. It is the only way you can track your expenditures to proactively identify areas of excess and map out solutions, accordingly.

3. START SAVING
An established savings habit will protect you in the event of a financial emergency, help you pay for large purchases, reduce financial burdens, and provide you with a good sense of financial freedom. Whatever your reason for saving (for a specific goal, emergency fund, retirement, education, property purchase), you need to have a reliable and efficient means of doing it.

4. GET HELP
If these seem too much for you to execute all by yourself, you can always seek the help of financial experts that will put you through, and help you in your journey to developing healthier and productive financial habits.

SOURCE (abridged): https://punchng.com/how-to-plan-against-financial-shocks-in-2021/

A group of lions is called a pride. What is a group of pandas called?

Foremost indigenous conglomerate, Dangote Group, has completed and commissioned Nigeria’s longest concrete road located in Kogi State, which hosts Dangote Cement Plc’s Obajana plant, the single largest cement plant in the world.

The 43km Obajana-Kabba road constructed by Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) has been described by motorists as the country’s most strategic highway that is aiding travellers between the North and the South of the country. At the commissioning, Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, had noted that the stride by Dangote Group demonstrates the unwavering commitments of an indigenous investor towards industrialization of Nigeria.

According to a statement from the Corporate Communications Department of Dangote Group: “Concrete roads last longer than asphalt roads and do not have potholes. They do not require frequent maintenance as asphalt roads. It saves fuel for motorists and protects tyres from wear and tears.” The statement said it is part of the Group’s determination to support government and Nigerians in order to grow the economy and facilitate ease of doing business.

IT IS THE FIRST OF ITS KIND, TOP ENGINEERS SAY.
Olatunbosun Kalejaiye, the Project Director, said he was excited that the CSR Project is being delivered for use by Nigerians, adding that while the rigid pavement has been completed, the company was dressing the shoulders. Site Engineer Samuel Obosi assured that the dual carriage way will be durable and less susceptible to potholes and repairs like asphalt road, adding that it would crash the rate of road accidents in the country.

Motorists said it is now one of the busiest roads linking the two regions in the country. “Thank God it is a concrete road. It can withstand any heavy duty vehicle,” Lamidi Sikiru, a driver expressed optimism. John Moses, a member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, said his taxi business is booming compared to when the road was very deplorable with potholes and barely used by motorists.

A community leader of Apa Bunu Kingdom and spokesperson for the community, Sam Omosayil, commended the Dangote Group, saying the road has attracted a lot of businesses. Traditional and community leaders eulogised the President of the Dangote Group. Bajana of Obajana Land, Idowu Senibi, described the project as gigantic and the first of its kind anywhere in Nigeria.

“Dangote is our son. We would protect his huge investment and gigantic concrete road. I am happy that this is happening in my lifetime and in my Kingdom. This is a great opportunity for us and many generations to come. Our society will be opened as you can see vehicles and commercial activities have started coming up. May God Almighty bless Dangote and all his staff.”

Speaking in the same vein, the traditional head of Akpata Land, Frederick Balogun, said his people were very proud of Aliko Dangote, adding that the Dangote Cement, Obajana plant, which is the single largest cement plant in the world, has brought honour and respect to their Kingdoms. “His presence has brought a total turnaround in our lives. Also permit me to appreciate the Federal Government for this joint effort. We are very grateful,” he said.

Speaking, the King of Okebunku Land in Kabba Bunu Local Government, Timothy Omonile, commended the President of the Dangote Group and charged other philanthropists to emulate him, adding that that is the only way Nigeria can develop its economy and infrastructure. He said construction of the road has helped cut down the rate of criminality in the state, while describing the Group President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, as God-sent.

Rechel Olatunji, a businesswoman said she makes more money now and that business is booming because of the road. Another businesswoman, Veronica Samuel, prayed fervently for the Dangote Group, adding that the new road has changed her life, and enabled her to sponsor her children to school.

Worried by the huge sum of money used in road repairs, President of the Dangote Group Aliko Dangote had said plans were afoot to revolutionize Nigerian roads with concrete, stressing that resources used in road repairs and maintenance would be channeled to other more important needs of the nation. “We are going to be building concrete roads in the country so that anytime we build a road, we do not have to go back to repair after the 3rd rainy season, but move on and use the resources to address other pressing needs of Nigeria,” Mr. Dangote had said.

It would be recalled that as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS), Dangote Group had earlier commissioned the 26 km Itori-Ibese Concrete Road.

SOURCE: https://businesstraffic.com.ng/euphoria-as-dangote-completes-nigerias-longest-concrete-road-in-kogi-state/

An elderly Nigerian woman has gone viral after she was caught on camera hijacking a commercial bus, following a disagreement with the driver.

Twitter user @iamprofstar who shared the video online, said the incident happened because the driver failed to drop his passengers at Orile Bus Stop along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway and refused to give them their balance.

Watch the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CQ1TR2ofa4

SOURCE: https://www.lindaikejisblog.com/2021/1/elderly-woman-hijacks-commercial-bus-from-the-driver-after-he-refused-to-give-her-and-other-passengers-their-change-video.html

Have you been wondering why ordinary folks seem less affected by COVID-19?

Whenever my drivers, househelps and security guards come back from their leave, I always ask the state of things in their villages. Up till today, for the past one year, none has come back with any news of deaths or serious illnesses requiring hospitalisation in their homes or surroundings. I also visited Sabo market in Sagamu and the tomato market at tollgate in Ogere, Ogun State. I questioned many traders if any stall or store owners had been missing or did not come to the market or had actually died. Responses were always negative.

So clearly, prevalence of noticeable infection with coronavirus is less among the lower class and fatalities appear higher among the upper class. However, it is necessary to adjust for the fact that deaths among elites readily get media attention than those of regular folks. Nonetheless, Melinda Gates’ prediction failed woefully because there was no way she could have foreseen this factor in the spread of COVID-19. Overall infectivity and fatalities on the African continent are disproportionately far lower than the rest of the world!

WHAT IS THE MAGIC HERE?
Simply put, the magic is SUNLIGHT. People who are daily exposed to sunlight are able to convert some chemicals in their skins to vitamin D, especially D3. Scientists have incontrovertible evidence that Vitamin D seriously boosts human immunity and actually has capacity to prevent respiratory and lung diseases. In the case of COVID-19, vitamin D3 can prevent infection in some people, and in others who get infected, it decreases severity of the infection and recovery rate is far better.

Recently, a petition signed by 120 physicians spread across the globe, (I have a copy) has been sent to world leaders and governments to treat vitamin D deficiency common in Europe and Americas, who have effective sunlight for just a few months in a year and hence have large numbers of the populace suffering from vitamin deficiency, leading to high susceptibility to COVID-19 infections and deaths.
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Many of the elites in Africa are also vitamin D-deficient and this makes ready targets for COVID-19 infections also. This is because they are hardly in the sun all year round. Yet, a 30-minute lounge daily in bright sunlight gives about 20,000 iu of vitamin D in our blood. This figure is much higher than daily requirement which is about 4,000 iu vitamin D. This is why young people, students, hawkers, traders and many who toil daily under the sun have very high immunity against COVID-19.

So my dear elders, VIPs and ‘Ogas’, please walk leisurely or lounge in the sun for 20 to 30 minutes daily, and with your face masks always on in public and observing normal COVID-19 protocols. With daily supplications to the Almighty, you will place a ban on COVID-19 from affecting you and your household.

God bless you all.

---Chief Doyin Okupe is a former presidential spokesperson

SOURCE (abridged): https://punchng.com/why-covid-19-spares-the-poor/

For fear of being attacked by suspected hoodlums, some residents of Coca Cola, Leventis, Ajibade, Ajegunle, Oke-Itunu and other adjoining neighbourhoods in Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State have reportedly deserted their homes and shops following the killing of a thief in the area.

It was gathered that trouble started on Friday after the Thursday killing of a suspected thief who was arrested by an angry mob in the area. In the reprisal attack on Friday, some hoodlums swooped on the communities, armed with dangerous weapons and attacked unsuspecting residents.

On their arrival, the hoodlums were said to have shot sporadically and destroyed several properties in the area. Two people were said to have lost their lives as a result of gunshot injury during the incident. Following the confusion that ensued, majority of shops in the area were shut with several houses deserted on Friday.

A shop owner at Ajibade who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “hoodlums numbering about three on a commercial motorcycle stormed the area around 4pm and shot at two people. A man (name unknown) and a woman simply identified as Toyin were shot during the confusion that ensued.” He said the man died immediately as a result of the gunshot while the woman gave up the ghost Friday morning due to complications from the impact of the bullet. The eyewitness added that residents fled the area for fear of attack by the hoodlums.
‌
He said, “It was so strange and frightening. At first, many people could not understand what was going on and the reason for the attack on the community. We were wondering; it was a terrible experience for us yesterday. They shot indiscriminately in every direction. At the end of the day, two people lost their lives while several others sustained varying degrees of injury.”

When contacted, the PRO Oyo State Police Command, Mr Olugbenga Fadeyi, confirmed the incident. He said the police have dispatched some of its men to the area to forestall further attacks. He, however, said it was only one person that lost his life in the incident.

“The information I had indicated that some hoodlums in the area set ablaze a man suspected to be a thief on Thursday morning. Later, three men suspected to be cultists went on a reprisal attack and shot at the man named Ojo Jacob. The victim was about 58 years old. The hoodlums shot at him and bolted away.

“In order to forestall further damage and loss of lives, some anti-crime policemen and patrol vehicles have been stationed in the area. Our men are presently on surveillance in the communities in order to forestall further attacks on the people. The police are also on the trail of the men of the suspects for possible arrest.”

SOURCE (abridged): https://punchng.com/two-feared-dead-in-reprisal-attack-on-ibadan-community/‌

Whenever there is a new global geopolitical or economic trend, African countries always jump on the bandwagon, albeit via subtle prodding from those leading them into booby traps or simply doing so with eyes closed and totally forgetting to read the fine print. In Nigeria’s eagerness to jump onto the cannabis gravy train, it has just made its first grave mistake. It overlooked potential pitfalls it will encounter when it drafts a legislation that fails to differentiate between the two controversial strains of the cannabis plant.

Portugal is a prime example of how local farmers were manipulated by Canadian companies and have since lost out on the immense economic potentials of a decriminalized cannabis regime in that country. Legislators at the Nigerian House of Representatives have already concluded the 1st reading and are expected to take a 2nd reading of a proposed bill to legalise cultivation, sale and use of cannabis, sponsored by Hon. Miriam Onuoha, a lawmaker from Imo State. No doubt, Ms. Onuoha has the backing of groups linked to Canadian industry giants, whose specific goal is to cash in maximally for their shareholders in North America.

THE LEGISLATION
Miriam Onuoha is working closely with Grow CANN Africa, a local company whose president, Uju Adaku, in October 2020, told the media in Abuja that her organisation has been meeting with the Nigeria High Commissioner to Canada and the Canadian High Commissioner. That admission puts the issues in better perspective for whoever may have had misgivings about the Canadian connection to the lobby to decriminalise Cannabis in Nigeria. (https://www.nescomedia.com/bill-seeking-legalization-of-industrial-hemp-passes-second-reading/).

Canada’s cannabis giants Canopy Growth Corp, Cronos Group, Aurora Cannabis, Aphria, and Tilray with a combined market capitalisation of over US$ 12bn are always lurking in the shadows to capture emerging cannabis markets, and the Nigerian market is one that is hard to resist. Whether intentional or not, nomenclature is very important in lobbying and advocacy in countries that hitherto had strict punitive laws against cannabis and had been completely averse to any suggestion for relaxation of sanctions against cannabis.

Nigeria has been strongly resistant to any suggestion for legalisation or decriminalisation of cannabis, such that several liberal state governors advocating for it had clashed with the Federal Government. Therefore, when there is a sudden turn round, the motivation must be critically dissected and evaluated. The Nigerian legislators lobbying for decriminalisation of cannabis keep throwing about a curious mix of terminologies that should give a cause for discomfort. It may pass unnoticed to the untrained eyes, but should not escape critical scrutiny of industry watchers.

TRUE INDIAN HEMP OR INDUSTRIAL HEMP?
An important claim made by cannabis lobbyists is that they are advocating for decriminalisation or legalisation of “non-intoxicating Cannabis, Cannabidiol, CBD oil, and industrial hemp.” It is not exactly clear what they mean when they say “non-intoxicating cannabis”, especially when industrial hemp is mentioned in the same breath. Why not be clear on exactly what they want and call the specific strain of cannabis they are advocating for by name?

This opacity signals either a sloppy appreciation of the implications of mixing terminologies in their description of the cannabis plant, or is simply an insidious bait they and their bankrollers hope the often-clueless state legislators would not catch. Cursory scan through the title and synopsis of the bill currently in the House of Reps, confirms the worst fears proving Nigeria has not learned much from the trickery that drove it to lose out on the golden opportunity to use its massive crude oil resources to transform the lives of its people and its economy. Cannabis is on the verge of becoming Nigeria’s next resource curse, if immediate steps are not taken to rectify objectives of the bill currently being pushed by lobbyists stringed to aprons of hawkish foreign bankrollers.

To begin with, the proposed bill has a long convoluted titled: “A bill for an Act to decriminalise the growth and use of cannabis, to establish a system for the registration and licensing of cannabis growers, users and control, to legalise the growth, sale and use of cannabis and set out a legal framework for the registration and licensing of cannabis growers and producers in Nigeria; and for related matters.” As can be deduced from the title, simply mentioning cannabis does not elaborate on the direction Nigeria seeks to take in the cannabis frenzy.

Objectives of the bill provide better context, namely:
1. Provide for a registration and licensing system for cannabis farmers and processors;
2. Establish a registration and licensing system for cannabis farmers and processors;
3. Regulate cultivation, processing, availability and trade of cannabis for medical purposes and
4. Promote public awareness about cultivation, processing, availability and trade of cannabis for medicinal and research purposes and its use in relation to medical or health purpose.

So essentially, Nigeria is only seeking to decriminalise Medicinal Cannabis, or specifically Medicinal Marijuana, the psychoactive characteristics and not Industrial hemp, the one lobbyists are describing as “non-intoxicating”.

NOT THE SAME THING
First of all, it is important to note that even though the two strains of Industrial Hemp (Cannabis Sativa) and Medicinal Marijuana (Cannabis Indica) are all referred to as Cannabis because they come from same plant genus, they are basically apples and oranges in comparison. They do not possess same chemical characteristics, nor do they have same uses.

Basically, the active chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the two cannabis plant strains differentiates them. THC is the main psychoactive compound in cannabis and it is what determines whether one gets “High” or not when ingested for whatever purpose. While industrial hemp has THC in trace amounts not more than 0.3% and cannot get one “high” when ingested, Medicinal Marijuana is the hippie benchmark because it contains THC anywhere between 0.4% to as high as 30%.

Marijuana is the go-to strain when cannabis is referred to in terms of recreational use, for its psychoactive effects or for medicine. There is another medicinal property called Cannabidiol or what is popularly referred to as CBD oil. But most medicinal marijuana strains do not have high CBD content. CBD is also medicinal but does not have the psychoactive effects that come with high THC content-the “High”.

Industrial hemp on the other hand often has high CBD content-as high as 30%, and so, can also be referred to as medicinal. But what sets industrial hemp apart is that aside from ingesting it, the entire plant has unlimited industrial uses. In fact, industrial hemp can be used for over 25,000 different industrial applications that can spark an economic revolution in any country, and the North Americans, the Chinese and Europeans know it. Industrial hemp can be used as main raw material for industries such as textiles, food supplements, cosmetics, hemp concrete for construction, hemp bio-fuel for powering vehicles; an alternative to fibre-glass used in the automotive industry, paper, biodegradable plastic, etc.

WHY RELEGATE INDUSTRIAL HEMP?
So, why will Nigerian legislators place more emphasis on the more limited Medicinal Marijuana and relegate industrial hemp to the background? Well, it all comes down to profit. A kg of medicinal marijuana can fetch as much as US$2000, while a CBD-bearing flower of industrial hemp can sell for between US$ 200 to US$ 400 for same quantity.

Also, medicinal marijuana needs little industrial processing, because its industrial linkage is basically a few steps from production to consumption. On the other hand, a sustainable industrial hemp value chain requires substantial capital investment. Imagine the machinery needed to convert industrial hemp fibre from farm into yarns for the textile industry. Imagine the number of jobs that will be created along the value chain. So essentially, Nigeria is gunning for the usual quick-fix approach as it did with its petroleum resources rather than the more sustainable industrial value chains industrial hemp can create.

FALLING FOR THE PORTUGUESE TRAP
Just like it is about to happen in Nigeria, Portugal has always been liberal on drug laws having legalised all drugs in 2001. It took them some 17 years to pass laws legalising use of medicinal marijuana in 2018, after Canadian cannabis giant Tilray reportedly backed a section of lobbyists who strongly pushed for it. That regime also allowed industrial hemp farmers to cultivate their crops for industrial use and export. All they had to do was to fulfil the conditions for a license through the Food and Veterinary General Directorate (DGAV).

However, in January 2019 Portugal updated its laws requiring all hemp products to be regulated under INFARMED, the Portuguese government agency accountable to the Health Ministry that evaluates, authorises, regulates and controls human medicines as well as health products. The implication of that singular move was that it forced industrial hemp farmers to submit to a licensing procedure as strict as the one for medical cannabis, while also bowing to their original regulator DGAV.

That new new regulation dealt a massive blow to industrial hemp farmers in that country. Eventually, licensing to industrial hemp farmers was cut off by the government due to jurisdictional changes, leading 40 hemp farmers to sign an open letter to the government to request hemp licensing continuation, as their businesses were collapsing. Consequently, in 2019, industrial hemp farmers faced off with the government. They were losing as much as US$ 30,000 per hectare of hemp farm according to Portuguese hemp growing cooperative Lusicanna. http://(https://cbdtesters.co/2020/02/07/amid-growing-medical-cannabis-industry-portugal-industrial-hemp-farmers-feel-the-burn-of-new-regulation/).

Well, just like what Nigeria is about to do, Portugal just lumped all cannabis plants together. But that is a problem. The point is that the two plants were never meant to be mixed in the first place, and Tilray knew it and reportedly actively lobbied using some corrupt Portuguese Ministers to drag along industrial hemp farmers into the regulatory framework of medicinal cannabis so that they can get rid of them.

THE BIG SECRET
The industry is reluctant to disclose it, but the closely guided secret is that you cannot plant hemp within a 50 km radius of medicinal cannabis because Marijuana is female while industrial hemp is male! Marijuana plants produce flowers that farmers grow for their THC content. The quality of the flower and its THC content is the bottom-line for medicinal cannabis companies. But if a hemp farm is within a 50 km radius of that marijuana farm, pollen (which can travel that far) from the hemp will fertilise the female marijuana plant and they will lose both their quality and their THC content (along with the “high” that it gives). Yet, the entire purpose of cultivating marijuana is to maintain that very quality.

It has already happened in Canada and other countries where both hemp and marijuana are grown. In southern Oregon in the United States, medicinal marijuana companies want the state to ban industrial hemp production altogether. The situation in Portugal is no different, and it will be the same in Nigeria if cannabis is given priority over its more benign cousin.

Perhaps, if state authorities still feel strongly about the illegal cultivation of marijuana, they can simply look into the cross-pollination prospect, sit back and watch the illegal marijuana farmers abandon their crops after they lose the quality that gives them patronage.

LESOTHO AND THE OTHERS
In Africa, many countries that jumped on the bandwagon like Lesotho, South Africa, Uganda, etc., are quickly realizing the trap they have gotten themselves into, in terms of marginalizing locals from participating in the multi-billion value chain of the cannabis industry.

Once Lesotho had legalized cannabis they wasted very little time in issuing licenses. The very first licenses they issued were free of charge and they did this to ensure local farmers would benefit, but that didn’t last long before the government hiked licensing fees to US $37,000. That ultimately edged out local farmers and allowed invasion of foreign firms with requisite financial muscle. They quickly moved in, acquiring farmlands at rapid rates. Now, local farmers in Lesotho can only look on, while foreign companies enjoy the windfall.

GHANA PROVIDES HOPE
Ghana is perhaps the only African country that took a more pragmatic step amidst the furore between industrial and medicinal hemp farmers. Ghanaian legislators, through the help of the Hempire Association of Ghana (HAG), were cleverer as they first set an indigenous objective for why they want in on the new green gold the world was going crazy about.

Just like Nigeria, Ghana had age-old strong punitive legislation against all cannabis. A gram of cannabis could land an offender a 10-year jail term. However, when presented with the choice of which of the two cannabis strains to prioritise, Ghana opted for industrial hemp because of its practical industrial applications and huge potential to radically transform the Ghanaian economy. Perhaps the legislators were also guided by strong revulsion many people have towards cannabis, including conservatives and religious groups.

In March 2020, Ghana eventually passed the Narcotics Control Commission Act (Act 1019). That act contained less than two clauses that clearly defined that industrial hemp was decriminalized for cultivation, industrial use, and for export. The fact that industrial hemp is not associated with the controversy of the psychoactive effect of the other cannabis plant, gave lobbyists in Ghana a firm grip on the narrative.

Also, the fact HAG had outlined an elaborate integrated value chain for Ghana’s industrial hemp industry added further impetus for advocates lobbying for decriminalizing at least one of the less controversial strain of the cannabis family. This year, Ghana will pass the requisite legislative instrument to enable government issue licenses to farmers, most of whom are local. Ghana’s concept is indigenous, yet inclusive.

Nana Kwaku Agyemang, President of HAG and Chief Executive Officer of Hempire Agric Ghana Limited has this to say about the stunning prospects being presented to Ghanaian farmers: “The prospects of cultivating hemp even with one acre is much more prosperous than cultivating 10 acres of Tomatoes, Onions and any other cash crop you can think of. To supply HAG (as the official Off-taker) with 1,500kgs of hemp will fetch on average $30,000 per harvest. This would be on a land size no more than an acre and a half, and considering the harvest would be four times a year, this would amount to a gross $120,000!”

THE AFRICAN KNIGHTS
Incidentally, it only took 3 Africans both at home and in the diaspora to unravel the cannabis economic puzzle that has already placed Ghana on the radar of the global cannabis industry. Stephen Adeoye and Raphael Ofori-Adeniran based in Germany started their own cannabis consultancy (Soringa ™) after doing a short stint with US-based cannabis marketing firm Kannaway LLC, where the nuanced veil of the industry was peeled off to reveal the Eldorado beyond the horizon.

Together with Nana Kwaku Agyemang of HAG, they mounted a subtle but intense advocacy campaign that left Ghanaian legislators no choice but to choose the path of common sense that will comprehensively transform lives of local farmers in Ghana, even as Nigeria continues to grapple with making sense out of the double-talk that punctuates the brand new multi-billion-dollar cannabis industry.

This article was produced under the auspices of coalition of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisations.

SOURCE (abridged): http://www.africanheritagemagazine.de/smokescreens-and-red-herrings-as-nigeria-tip-toes-into-the-cannabis-green-gold-trap/

It has been reported that the University Of Lagos has lost 6 Professors to COVID-19 in one week. Recall that former VC of the Institution, Prof. Ibidapo Obe died from the virus last week, and after his demise, 5 other Professors of the Institution have allegedly also died as a result of the virus.

What is baffling is that all these professors were alledged to have died from COVID-19 after they were spotted at a wedding a few weeks ago in Ikoyi. The names of the scholars are

Prof Ibidapo-Obe,
Prof. Ayeyalemi,
Prof. Adesogan,
Prof. Abiona,
Prof. Femi Odekunle and
Prof. Folabi.

However, Prof. Adesogan's physician has debunked the "rumour" that he died of Covid-19. According to him, Prof. Adesogan had been ill for quite a long time and he was with him till his last day.

Please Lets Keep Observing The Necessary Precautionary Measures!

UNILAG lost 6 professors including Professor Ibidapo Obey to COVID19 in the last one week, they were all at the same event ...
— Woman (@Ojori_Ade) January 10, 2021

SOURCE (abridged): https://www.gist mania.com/talk/topic,483867.0.html

CHIDIEBUBE OKEOMA writes on the high crime wave which has taken over Imo State in the last one month

Armed robbers and kidnappers have in the last one month wreaked havoc in Imo State. Armed men have been running riot in the capital city of Owerri and have kidnapped many residents, including the Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri, Most Rev Moses Chikwe, and a Catholic priest, Rev Fr Valentine Ezeagu. The gunmen also killed two siblings and two policemen.

The killers had on December 6, 2020 killed Chidiebere and Tochukwu Anyanwu at the back gate of the Imo State University in Owerri and made away with their Ford vehicle and also shot two persons who were in company of the siblings. The injured persons were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri. The killing of the siblings caused panic in the state capital and various groups called on the police to apprehend the fleeing killers.

Also on December 16, 2020, gunmen kidnapped Fr Ezeagu at Umulolo in the Ideato North LGA of the state. The priest was on his way to Anambra State for his father’s funeral from Umuahia, Abia State, when he was abducted. He was however released the next day as he reported himself at a police station in Okigwe. His vehicle was recovered from a forest in Arondizuogu. The kidnap of the priest caused ripples in and outside of the state as the Umuahia Catholic Diocese called for the unconditional release of the priest.

On Christmas eve, gunmen killed two policemen and a chieftain of the PDP, Soludo Akwaeke, in the Orsu LGA of the state. They also made away with the politician’s vehicle and the cash he withdrew from an Automated Teller Machine in Orlu. Killing of the policemen was a big blow to the state police command and made the security personnel to have an unpleasant Christmas celebration. Members of the PDP family in the Orsu Local Government Area of the state were equally in a sorrowful mood during the Yuletide.

Came the big one on December 27 when gunmen kidnapped the Auxiliary Bishop of the Owerri Catholic Archdiocese, Most Rev Moses Chikwe, and his driver, Ndubuisi Robert, at the World Bank area of the state. The rampaging gunmen also kidnapped a lady before zooming off to an unknown destination. Hours later, the vehicle of the prelate and his Episcopal regalia were parked in front of archdiocesan headquarters in Owerri.

The kidnap of the bishop elicited reactions from within and outside the country. The political class, the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Catholic pontiff, Pope Francis, called for his release, with the Pope making a special appeal for Chikwe’s freedom in his crossover prayer. Luckily, the bishop was rescued from a creek between Imo and Rivers states. He and his driver were freed after an operation that lasted hours. Police spokesperson in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu, who confirmed release of the bishop and his driver, said some suspects were arrested.

On December 29, kidnappers abducted a motorist at the ever-busy Wetheral Road in Owerri and sped off with him on the Aba Road. On the same day, some hoodlums trailed and kidnapped another motorist at the Amaraku junction in Isiala Mbano LGA of the state and zoomed off with him on the Nkwerre-Orlu Road, abandoning his Highlander SUV. The incident happened around 9pm.

Last week, gunmen killed a businessman, Mr Leo Anuforo, his driver and two policemen at a boundary between Imo and Rivers states. Our correspondent gathered that Anuforo, who was the CEO of Loraj Consult Limited, was killed by assailants. The victims were killed by gunmen who trailed them to the scene. The men were travelling in a white Toyota Hilux vehicle when they were killed.

An Owerri resident, Kinsley Madu, said the security situation in the state was as a result of frustration. “The frustration in the state is much. There is hunger in the state. No payment of salaries and the government seems unperturbed about the welfare of the people of the state,” Madu stated. Another resident, who identified himself simply as John, said the #EndSARS protest and the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to insecurity in the state.

But Ikeokwu said criminals had not overrun the state. Ikeokwu stated that people should commend the police for rescuing the auxiliary bishop and policing the state better.

A community leader, Kingsley Oguine, said the insecurity in the state could be attributed to lack of patience by the youths of the state. Oguine said that youths wanted to make money by all means. According to him, the quest to make money all means was responsible for the insecurity in the state. He however said the government must work hard to create more jobs in the state.

A journalist, Jude Owuamanam, said bad governance was the major cause of insecurity in the state. According to him, when people are not financially secured, they must do everything to make money. “Environmental insecurity is also a major cause of insecurity in the state. When the environment is not favourable it makes people insecure. There is no social security. There is no electricity. There is no family in Imo state that does not spend at least N1,000 in paying of fuel for domestic use every day.

“ The government is not sincere on issues that have to do with payment of salaries. Government is not paying but it claims it is paying salaries. This is also causing insecurity in the state. The government must begin to do things that are right.”

A youth leader, Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, said government was insensitive to the plight of the people of the state. “This government is very unconcerned about the people of the state. This government is clueless and very unprepared about leadership. I must tell you that Imo people are suffering bad governance in the state.”

Senior Special Assistant to Governor Hope Uzodimma on Print Media, Modestus Nwamkpa, said his principal was committed to securing the state. The governor’s aide said Uzodimma had established the Operation Search and Flush and gave it many operational vehicles and other logistics to the police.

SOURCE (abridged): https://punchng.com/imo-kidnappers-gunmens-reign-of-terror-in-eastern-heartland/

A Nigerian woman has claimed that a real man is the one that supports his woman even is she's pregnant for another man. Omasilachi Amanda Ifeoluwa Chinda made the statement via her Twitter handle while explaining the meaning of true love.

According to Omasilachi who claims she’s a demisexual and ambivert, real love is when a man accepts a child that is not his.

A real man will support his woman even if she is pregnant for another man... That's True love �
— Omasilachi Amanda Ifeoluwa Chinda � (@amandachinda_) January 8, 2021

Recall that paternity fraud recently made the rounds on social media following the alleged paternity scandal involving the M.D of FCMB, Nuru Adam and Tunde Thomas. It was alleged that Nuru Adam was the father of the two children raised by Tunde Thomas and that Mrs Thomas had been having an office romance with the said Nuru. The case is been investigated by the board of directors of FCMB and the M.D has allegedly gone on leave to foster better investigation.

It was in response to the paternity scandal that Chinda tweeted a real man should support his wife even if the baby in her womb belongs to someone else.

SOURCE (abridged): https://www.tori.ng/news/160881/a-real-man-supports-his-woman-even-if-shes-pregnan.html

Boko Haram terrorist sect has killed some commuters at Aligambori, near Gajiram, along the Maiduguri-Monguno Road in Borno State. Eyewitnesses said the incident happened on Wednesday, and the casualty figure was yet unknown as of press time.

According to an eyewitness and driver plying the route, Ya lawan Dawo, the terrorists also snatched 11 vehicles from drivers and took them to the bush. “They snatched 11 vehicles and killed the passengers at Aligambori, where they (terrorists) usually mount checkpoints,” Dawo told our correspondent.

Another transporter, Abba Monguno, said the Maiduguri-Monguno Road had been a nightmare to both drivers and commuters as they were always fearful of being attacked by the insurgents at any of their four checkpoints along the road. Abba said the insurgents usually operated at will at the checkpoints, looting commuters’ belongings and demanding money from drivers.

He said, “They have 4 roadblocks along that road. There is one each at Tuhuba, Kwanan Tsamiya, Aligambori, and Ayikime. They stop commuters at these checkpoints and rob them of their belongings like phones and money. Sometimes, they even strip passengers of their clothes. If you ply the route any time from 8-9am, you will surely meet them. Also at 4pm every day. When they stop us, we obey them. They will ask for money, the least being N1,000. If anybody refuses to heed their commands, they can shoot the person straight away.”

Abba further stated that despite the discomfort and risk to their lives, they could not stop plying the route because they had to go out to make income to meet their daily needs. “Sometimes, we do not know specifically when or where we will meet them. They could decide to come out at a time you least expect them. They operate and go back into the forest. We ply the road in fear,” he added.

When contacted about the issue, spokesperson of the Borno Police Command, DSP Okon Edet, referred our correspondent to the Nigerian Army. However, the spokesperson for Operation Lafiya Dole Theatre Command and 7 Div Maimalari Barracks, Maiduguri, Col Ado Isa, did not take our correspondent’s calls. He had also yet to reply to a text message sent to his phone number as of press time.

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/boko-haram-kills-commuters-seizes-11-vehicles-in-borno/

The Federal Government has again increased electricity tariff payable by power consumers across the country. Approval for the hike in tariff was given by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, as the increase (which varies based on different consumer classes) took effect from January 1, 2021.

Few hours after news of the tariff hike broke, NERC issued a statement denying 50% hike as reported in some circles (excluding THE PUNCH). The regulatory agency blamed N2 to N4 adjustment in tariff on inflation and movement in foreign exchange rates.

However, the Trade Union Congress issued a stern warning, asking the FG to revert to old electricity tariff or face the consequences of its action. NERC had announced the tariff hike in its December 2020 minor review of Multi Year Tariff Order and Minimum Remittance Order obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday.

The tariff increase is taking effect just 2 months after government through NERC implemented a hike in November 2020, which saw widespread opposition. The MYTO order containing the latest tariff hike, Order NERC/225/2020, was signed by the new Chairman of NERC, Sanusi Garba, and supersedes the previous Order NERC/2028/2020.

Providing reasons for latest tariff hike, the commission said it considered the 14.9% inflation rate rise in November 2020 and forex rate of N379.4/$1 as of December 29, 2020. Others were available generation capacity, US inflation rate of 1.22% and Capital Expenditure of the power firms, before the tariff was raised.

The commission also stated the new tariff would be effective till June 2021 while a Cost Reflective Tariff would be activated from July to December 2021. The commission had stated last month it was carrying out a review for another tariff, hence the latest order announcing increase in rates payable by consumers.

In September last year, the commission raised electricity tariff but this faced stiff opposition from organised labour, as the unions threatened to embark on nationwide strike. After series of negotiations, the tariff was reduced based on consumer classes and hours of power supply received by electricity users.

On November 1, 2020, power distribution companies commenced implementation of the revised electricity tariff that was jointly agreed upon by organised labour and the FG. Findings showed that in the latest MYTO review, some power users would pay as much as N12 extra as electricity tariff.

Ibadan Disco, for instance, had an end-user allowed tariff of N34.1 per kilowatt-hour in 2020, but this was increased to N46.5 for the period of January to June 2021. It was further hiked to N57.1/kWh for July to December 2021, meaning that Ibadan Disco is allowed to collect this much from customers under its franchise areas

TARIFF INCREASED BY ONLY N4 –NERC
But in a public notice on the matter, NERC stated it only hiked tariff of some selected classes of consumers. It said, “The tariff for customers on service bands D and E (customers being served less than an average of 12hours of supply per day over a period of one month) remains frozen and subsidised in line with policy direction of the Federal Government.

In compliance with provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act and the nation’s tariff methodology for biannual minor review, rates for service bands A, B, C, D and E have been adjusted by N2 to N4 per kWhr to reflect partial impact of inflation and movement in foreign exchange rates.”

The commission argued it never hiked tariff by 50%, adding that it remained committed to protecting electricity consumers from failure to deliver on committed service levels under the service-based tariff regime.

REVERT TO OLD PRICE OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR DECISION, TUC WARNS FG
However, the TUC reprimanded the FG over the hike in electricity tariffs announced on Tuesday. It described the decision as ‘wicked’ and ‘another betrayal of trust’ coming in the middle of ongoing negotiations by the FG and the organised labour on the November 1, 2020 hike.

The union asked government to revert to the old price or face the consequences of its decision. This was contained in a statement by the TUC President, Quadri Olaleye, and the Secretary-General, Musa Lawal, titled, ‘Electricity hike: Another betrayal of trust’. The congress wondered “why this government espouses unfriendly policies that are capable of crippling the economy.”

It said many companies which could not pay the previous tariff hikes had either closed shop or relocated to neighbouring countries. TUC stated, “Does it mean there is no other way this government can creatively generate revenue? It has become obvious that outrages from the organised labour and the masses and the series of negotiations we had with the government were just cosmetic and hypocritical.

“There is so much deceit and laziness in the system; there is hardly any promise made that they have followed through. Only yesterday (Monday), we read again that the Academic Staff Union of Universities is withdrawing its members because this same government has reneged on its promises reached a few days ago. How can the government go-ahead with increase in tariffs again when we have not resolved the one done earlier? This is preposterous, ridiculous and sheer wickedness.”

The congress noted that it had become the butt of jokes among Nigerians because it was reluctant to launch an offensive on account of the poor state of the economy. It said, “The economy was struggling before the outbreak of the pandemic and we thought it wise not to worsen our situation. The sacrifice means nothing to these people, who forced us to tighten our belt while they loosened theirs.

“Darkness enhances criminal activities and now they have chosen to keep us in the darkness thinking their high fences will save them. We call on the government to be responsible for once. Nigerians will like to know what we gained from border closures. Insecurity did not stop, neither did it stop the smuggling of rice and others.”

TUC said the government should not push organised labour to the wall with its harsh policies. It stated, “You don’t just churn out policies without weighing the pros and cons. How many people can afford to pay the last bill talk less of this recent one? Organised labour should not be pushed to the wall because it will actually do all no good. Government must revert to the old price or be willing to accept the outcome of this decision. This is a betrayal of trust and it is unfortunate.”

WE NEED TO WORRY ABOUT PEOPLE'S SENSIBILITIES – LCCI
Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Muda Yusuf, said there should be a strategic approach to electricity pricing to avoid pushback from consumers. He said, “Only two months ago, there was a review. Now another review. The commercial arguments may be strong, but there is a social context to be reckoned with, especially given the kind of product in question.

“It is also important to reckon with the economic and political ramifications of such price reviews. We need to worry about the sensibilities of the people.” While reiterating the group’s support for a cost-reflective tariff for electricity, Yusuf said transition to the new pricing regime should be strategic and gradual to minimise shocks and risk of pushback by the consumers.

He said, “Context matters in policy conceptualisation and implementation. We need to worry about social and economic contexts. The economy is currently in a recession, purchasing power has been significantly eroded across all income classes, poverty situation has been worsening, and there is spiralling inflation, there are fresh concerns about resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These contexts should have a moderating effect on price movement at this time, especially for a product of high social significance. It is important to take these factors into account in order not to put the entire reform process at risk.”

President, Electricity Consumers Association of Nigeria, Mr Chijioke James, expressed consumers’ opposition to the fresh hike in electricity tariff, describing it as ill-timed. “Why would the government increase tariff at the beginning of the year, especially a time when unemployment is on the increase, disposable incomes of citizens continue to deplete, inflation is galloping? This is evidence of insensitivity of leadership at a time like this,” he said.

A professor of Economics at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella, said electricity tariff should not be increased at this point. He said, “The electricity tariff is not supposed to be increased even if there is no second wave. They have not been quite efficient. In fact, what we are paying for is inefficiency.

“They are not efficient in collecting their tariffs from everybody using electricity and that is where they are supposed to concentrate on, instead of taxing those who are paying to pay more.” Tella called for the use of technology in collecting money from consumers.

However, Head of Tax, PricewaterhouseCoopers Nigeria, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, lauded the increase, saying he had advocated for people at the top to pay more for electricity consumption since they relied on it for several purposes.

SOURCE (abridged): https://punchng.com/tuc-threatens-showdown-as-nerc-denies-50-hike-blames-inflation/

Virologists have advised the Federal Government against procurement of COVID-19 vaccine at the moment, saying it is unnecessary to introduce it now to Nigerians. A virologist at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Prof. Rosemary Audu, in an interview with our correspondent, said there would be no need for vaccine if 70% of the population in the country had developed antibodies against the virus.

She said, “We do know that so many people have been infected; we’ll like to know whether we have herd immunity already. Do people have antibodies? Do they have protective immunity already? What percentage of the population has the immunity? If we have up to 70% of the population who have developed antibodies against the virus, then we would say we have herd immunity and may not necessarily need the vaccine. That is something I’m sure within the next few months we should be able to tell.

“NIMR is conducting an epidemiology survey where we are checking citizens for their antibody levels to this virus. I’m sure very soon, we would be able to advise whether the vaccines will be useful for us or not.”

Director, Human and Zoonotic Virology, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Prof. Sunday Omilabu, in an interview with our correspondent, said it would be dangerous to introduce COVID-19 vaccine to Nigerians at the moment. He said, “There is something in us that is mitigating virulence of the virus in our body. We may like to call it a kind of immunity that we enjoy through our environment. This is coming to us as an advantage; we have that herd immunity now, if anything comes in now, it may derail what are benefiting from.

“For us, I would suggest they allow people to still use their herd immunity which they are enjoying and is a natural gift. They should concentrate on those few people that have some medical conditions that have made their level of herd immunity very low. The vaccine is dangerous now because we don’t know how it is going to behave in the long run.”

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/its-dangerous-to-introduce-covid-19-vaccine-in-nigeria-now-virologists/

The driver of a ride-hailing service, identified simply as Tade, recently lost his life to armed robbers, who shot him dead around Badore in the Ajah area of Lagos State. PUNCH Metro gathered that a yet-to-be-identified customer requested Tade’s service to convey him to a destination in the state and he drove down to the agreed pick-up point in Badore.

It was learnt that immediately he got to the destination, 3 armed men waylaid him and while attempting to dispossess him of the car and other valuables, they allegedly shot him twice. After perpetrating the crime, the armed robbers reportedly fled from the scene in Tade’s vehicle.
The deceased’s colleague, who gave his name simply as Damilare, said Tade was tricked to the spot where he was shot dead, adding that three hoodlums were responsible for the attack.

Damilare stated, “He (Tade) was actually killed around Badore. His service was requested and when he got to where the request emanated from, he met 3 hoodlums. Immediately, he started struggling with them, not knowing that one of them had a gun, and they shot him twice and drove away in the car.

“From what we gathered, it appears the hoodlums requested his service in a bid to steal his car. That is the trick they usually use; they will make a request for a long distance travel like from Egbeda to Lekki and no driver will see such a request around 7pm or 8pm and won’t want to go, because it is going to fetch you over N5,000.

“But while driving to the pick-up point, they will ask you to pass through bad roads and when you get there, you will see like three guys with guns, cutlasses and knives, who will suddenly appear to rob you of your phone, money and other valuables.

“They know that most ride-hailing drivers use smartphones to work and some of them have more than one smartphones. This is common around Egbeda; if we get a request around there, we usually tell the person to come out and if the person refuses, we will cancel it. Many of the drivers don’t know this trick and that is why they usually fall victim.”

Damilare stated that Tade’s family had taken his corpse to the village for burial, adding that people, who rushed to rescue him after he was shot, informed one of his colleagues about what happened. He said, “I cannot take a trip to Badore anytime from 6pm; if I am to take the trip, I will drop the passenger at Ajah or at the point where I can make the next U-turn. If you like to remain in the car, I will lock my car and keep you there. The area is very bad and cursed.

“How we got to know about the incident was that we drivers usually have back-to-back conversation to check on each other. So, when he was shot, his phone was found on him and he was still breathing when people rushed to help him. The next person who called him was his friend. He was asking if he had got to his destination and the people informed his friend that Tade had been shot. The friend asked for the location and drove down there to see what happened. Tade died while being rushed to hospital. His friend said the family took his corpse to the village for burial.”

When contacted on Sunday, the state Police PRO, Muyiwa Adejobi, said he would find out and get back to our correspondent, but when another call was put across to him on Monday, he said he had yet to get any information on the incident.

“I have not got any fact on this. I will get back to you when I have my facts,” Adejobi stated.

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/robbers-shoot-dead-lagos-uber-driver-steal-car/

Following outcry that greeted crossover services amid the 2nd wave of the coronavirus pandemic, leading churches in the country opted for the virtual experience on December 31, 2020, but will congregate physically on Sunday, 3 January 2021, for the First Thanksgiving Service of the New Year, The PUNCH has learnt.

First Sunday of a New Year is as significant as a crossover service, as Christians gather to pray and worship their Maker for the gift of a brand New Year. The PUNCH earlier reported that some megachurches in the country adjusted or altogether shelved physical crossover services over concerns for public health safety and adherence to the 12am to 4am curfew imposed by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.

Consequently, a large turnout is expected to greet the First Sunday Service of the year. But experts believe the gathering could escalate the rising Covid cases reported lately in the country. Findings showed that Living Faith Church Worldwide aka Winners’ Chapel, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, Covenant Christian Centre, Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Daystar Christian Centre, House on the Rock Church, amongst others, have announced physical worship services for the first Sunday of the Year 2021.

“We are beyond excited about coming together to give thanks, tomorrow (Sunday) and all year long. Service holds at all our physical centres and online,” Daystar tweeted on Saturday, imploring members to register online as seats are limited.

“3rd of January 2021, the first Sunday for the year 2021 shall be a Prophetic Entrance into the Month of January…Come along with your family members, friends and other loved ones,” Winners’ Chapel announced on its verified Facebook page.

House on the Rock Church also announced, “Get a Fresh Start in this New Year, join us as we partake of the Holy Communion this Sunday at the Rock Cathedral, Lekki from 9am. Register on our website, and come with your facemask and QRCode. All Covid-19 protocols will be strictly adhered to.”

While the churches checked by our correspondent all stressed the need for members to comply with the COVID-19 protocols when they gather in communal worship on Sunday, a Professor of Virology, Oyewale Tomori, told The PUNCH on Saturday that churches should not meet physically tomorrow to sustain the small gains achieved when the crossover services were shelved.

Tomori, who is Chairman, Expert Review Committee on COVID-19, said, “Why avoid crossover services and then do big parties tomorrow (Sunday)? They only postponed the evil day. “They cancelled crossover services to curb spread of the virus but services tomorrow would have same implications they tried to avoid. “The Bible says where two or more are gathered God will be there. The same way, where two or more are gathered without wearing face masks, coronavirus will be there waiting for them.”

Also, an Epidemiologist and Public Health Expert, Prof. Tanimola Akande, said Nigerians would face the consequences of flouting guidelines rolled out by the PTF. Akande said, “There are standard guidelines the NCDC has rolled out and these are not new to the churches. I am a Christian as well but churches have not been abiding by the protocols including social distancing and use of face masks.

“Government too is shy in enforcing these guidelines. Government does not want to be seen as persecuting Christians but we will all pay the consequences. The 2nd wave is very serious but we don’t want to take it seriously in Nigeria.”

PUNCH had earlier reported that the PTF said religious leaders are sabotaging its response to Covid management in Nigeria by holding large gatherings. But the Christian Association of Nigeria has since urged its members to comply with directives of governments at federal and sub-national levels including social distancing, use of face masks, etc.

This newspaper had also reported that the Presiding Bishop of Winners’ Chapel, David Oyedepo, said the church was organised, urging government to focus its Covid containment on marketplaces, bus stops and other public places.

Nigeria has recorded over 85,000 Covid infections including more than 1,200 associated fatalities, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

SOURCE (abridged): https://punchng.com/covid-19-experts-warn-as-churches-plan-physical-sunday-services-after-shelved-crossover/

Suspected cultists have killed 4 persons in Benin and other parts of Edo State between Wednesday and Thursday in what appears a renewed cult war. One of the victims was identified as Emmanuel Michael. He was said to be attending to a customer in his mechanic workshop on Osasogie Street when he was shot by gunmen around 6.20pm Wednesday.

An eyewitness told journalists that the assailants shot continuously into the air to disperse people in the area before killing their target. “Upon identifying Michael, they went straight and fired several gunshots in his head, killing him on the spot. The situation forced residents to flee the area, while shop owners quickly locked up and fled. It took the intervention of Edo State Joint Security Team to restore normalcy in the area.”

This came few hours after an unidentified carpenter was killed by gunmen at his workshop on Aragua Street, also in the Edo State capital. Two other persons were killed around Uwelu Spare Parts Market, one of them a taxi driver identified simply as David. He was said to have been shot while making arrangements to tow his broken down vehicle.

Meanwhile, robbers went on the rampage in the New Benin area beside Oguola Primary School on Thursday, as they attacked a point-of-sale operator and dispossessed several persons of their phones and money. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Chidi Nwabuzor, said he had not been briefed about the incidents.

SOURCE (abridged): https://punchng.com/mechanic-three-others-killed-in-fresh-edo-cult-war/

Many residents were displaced on Thursday after some government officers demolished Monkey Village in the Opebi area of Lagos State.

It was gathered that the officials stormed the area around 8am and ordered the residents to move their belongings.

PUNCH Metro learnt that some of the residents, however, lost their property to the demolition.

The displaced residents lamented that they were not given any notice before the exercise.

Our correspondent was told that Information and Community Technology tools, goods, all estimated at millions of naira, were destroyed by the armed officers.

The Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit, in a statement on Thursday, denied involvement in the action.

The Public Relations Officer of the agency, Adebayo Taofiq, said, “It is imperative to state categorically that the operatives of the agency were not in any way involved in the said demolition as being circulated.”

Our correspondent learnt that the exercise might have been carried out by officials of the Special Operations Unit, Governor’s Office, on the instruction of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development.

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/residents-displaced-as-lagos-demolishes-monkey-village/

The Federal High Court on Tuesday dismissed the suit filed by the PDP seeking disqualification of Mr Osagie Ize-Iyamu as governorship candidate of the APC in the 19 September 2020 election in Edo State. Justice Ahmed Mohammed dismissed the suit on grounds it “has become an academic exercise”.

The judge noted that since the APC lost the election, there would be “no benefit” for the PDP to gain in the success of the suit. Justice Mohammed added that APC and Ize-Iyamu were not challenging the outcome of the election at the Election Petition Tribunal which is the forum with the exclusive jurisdiction to determine who is validly elected in the election. “This suit has become academic and it is hereby struck out,” the judge ruled.

PDP had on July 3, 2020 sued Ize-Iyamu and two others claiming that the primary election of the APC that produced him as the party’s governorship candidate in the governorship election was not validly conducted. The other two defendants were the Independent National Electoral Commission and the APC.

But Ize-Iyamu and APC in their opposition to the suit urged the court to dismiss it for being a mere academic exercise, as said election had been conducted and both Ize-Iyamu and his party, the APC lost. They also argued that they did not challenge the outcome of the September 19 governorship election which was won by the PDP and Mr Godwin Obaseki and Philip Shuaibu, as the governor and deputy governor, respectively.

Meanwhile, the judge also in another suit challenging Governor Obaseki’s nomination as the PDP’s candidate admitted as Exhibit PL2, the Form EC9 which was completed and submitted to INEC ahead of September 19, 2020, by the governor. The APC and one Edobor Williams had filed the suit seeking an order disqualifying Obaseki as a candidate in the governorship election on grounds he forged his first-degree certificate which he submitted to INEC in aid of his qualification for the governorship poll.

Justice Mohammed overruled the objection by the PDP and Obaseki and admitted the document on the ground it was relevant to the case. The judge gave the governor and other defendants opportunity to cross-examine the INEC official subpoenaed to produce the document. According to the judge, without the form EC9, “the whole case would collapse like a pack of cards”.

He adjourned the case till Wednesday for the plaintiffs to close their case.

SOURCE (abridged): https://punchng.com/edo-court-dismisses-pdps-suit-seeking-ize-iyamus-disqualification-as-apc-candidate/

DELE OGUNYEMI writes that the abduction of two female schoolteachers in Ohorhe community, Delta State, and their freedom after 10 days in the kidnappers’ den highlights need for better security arrangement in the state, especially in rural areas

“God’s mercy kept us in the kidnappers’ den for 10 days and we came out safe and unharmed. We were not beaten, chained or raped. Rather, we were shown love and compassion in the thick forest. One of them told us that he saw mercy written on our foreheads; that we are women of grace. They begged us for forgiveness and even gave us money when we were released. The God of Daniel was with us. We serve a God who is too faithful to fail. Thank you all for your prayers and concern. We are indeed grateful to God as He answered our prayers. We love you all.”

These were the exact words of the two abducted teachers of the Ohorhe Secondary School in Uvwie LGA of Delta State, as they breathed the air of freedom on Sunday 20 December 2020, exactly 10 days after they were abducted.

The serenity and peace hitherto associated with Ohorhe, an agrarian community located off Effurun-Sapele Road was threatened on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, when gun-wielding kidnappers attired in Nigerian Army uniform besieged the Ohorhe Secondary School premises in broad daylight, ordered everyone on sight to close their eyes while lying on the bare floor, and in a commando operation, abducted two teachers to the consternation of the defenceless villagers.

The teachers, Gladys Niemogha and Blessing Emunefe, were kidnapped from inside the staff room of the school in an operation that lasted a few minutes, while the invaders escaped with the captives in their standby gold Highlander SUV with no resistance. Since the inglorious invasion of the school by kidnappers, the entire Ohorhe community has not been the same again. Needless repeating that the incident will remain indelible in the minds of residents for many years to come.

A visit by our correspondent to Ohorhe Secondary School before the teachers were eventually released revealed that it remained a ghost of its old self. The school was deserted immediately after the incident just as palpable fear of the unknown gripped teachers and students. They find it difficult to put behind them the trauma of losing their beloved English Language and Mathematics teachers to abductors.

Few students and teachers, who spoke with journalists, lamented the level of insecurity in the country, wondering why someone would think of abducting teachers, whose duty is to impart knowledge. A teacher in the community school who identified herself as Mrs Gloria Omonigun, expressed worry over porosity of the school and urged Delta State Government to act fast in securing release of the victims.

She had stated, “What happened in the school on the fateful day has further demonstrated the level of insecurity in the country today, especially in areas where government schools are located in rural settlements. If someone comes to a school and kidnaps teachers, who taught you how to read and write, then it shows nobody is safe in the country anymore.

“Up till now, we have yet to get over the shock of how 3 kidnappers dressed in military camouflage and carrying guns burst into our staff room and ordered all of us to lay down on the floor, while some of our colleagues were being taken away. As we are now, we are even scared to resume school, because we feel they may come again to complete what they started since we don’t even know the reason they have made the school their target in the first place.”

She appealed to the state government and other security agencies to come to the aid of the school and “ensure prompt release of our colleagues and beef up security in school environments across the state.”

The PUNCH gathered that although schools in the state were on vacation, before the holiday, students in Ohorhe abandoned their school following the attack by the gunmen. Commenting on the development, the school’s head girl and senior prefect, Elohor Williams and Justice Emefiele, respectively, regretted the kidnap incident, saying it had heightened fear among the students and the entire community.

They urged the state government to, as a matter of urgency, tackle the issue of insecurity in the school to rebuild confidence in both teachers and students. They also used the opportunity to solicit better learning environment in the school, noting it lacked social amenities like water, conducive classrooms, furniture, especially tables and chairs, as well as toilet facilities.

But for residents of Ohorhe, the incident has compelled them to go to the drawing board to come up with a better security architecture for the agrarian community. A series of town hall meetings on security have been held, and it has been unending vigil and surveillance over the school and entire neighbourhood ever since the incident. Consequently, the community vigilante group was beefed up and Ohorhe Secondary School was accorded top priority with guards assigned to keep watch over it day and night.

The Unuevworo of Ohorhe, Chief Samuel Eshenake, told The PUNCH that the entire community was saddened by the unfortunate incident at the school, while lamenting the agony the kidnapped teachers were passing through. During one of the town hall meetings, the traditional head of the community gave an indication that the abductors had, at last, made contact with families of the victims, just as he expressed hope the teachers would come out alive from the kidnappers’ den.

While calling on the state government to boost security in the school by fencing the compound and erecting a gate, Eshenake disclosed the community had already dispatched vigilantes to the school for day and night surveillance. He called on members of the community, particularly youth, to be security conscious by keeping surveillance on suspicious movements in their environment at all times. As of time of filing this report, it was jubilation galore in Ohorhe community as news filtered in that the abducted schoolteachers had regained freedom. What our correspondent could not ascertain about the freedom, however, was at what cost.

Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Hafiz Inuwa, who had earlier confirmed the kidnap, vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

SOURCE (abridged): https://punchng.com/fear-grips-delta-community-students-abandon-school-as-gunmen-abduct-teachers-in-broad-daylight/

DAUD OLATUNJI chronicles the growing incidence of cultism among secondary school students in Ogun State and the attendant negative effects...

Students and artisans below age 20 now find fantasy in cultism. They brandish weapons anyhow and anywhere. Anyone who feels uncomfortable and attempts to scold or stop them end up a victim. Cultism has successfully crept into secondary schools across Ogun State with teachers resolving to mind their business and look away whenever the students (who are supposed to be under their care) display their skills in cultism.

Investigation has shown that schools have become havens for cultism as initiation into various groups take place on the premises of public schools. Many artisans such as carpenters, automobile mechanics and bricklayers, among others, are not left out in the mad rush to join deadly cults.

Recent developments in many parts of Ogun State indicate that the pendulum has swung from tertiary institutions to secondary schools. While tertiary educational institutions are not completely free of the menace, teenagers who may have been initiated by old cultists in tertiary institutions now hold sway in various secondary schools across the state.

Recently, no fewer than 20 persons were reportedly killed, while several others sustained varying degrees of injury during cult clashes in some parts of Ijebu Ode. The clashes started about 2 weeks ago and left no fewer than 20 persons, including the innocent, dead. Members of the Eiye and Aiye confraternities were reportedly involved in the clashes, which subjected residents of Ijebu Ode and its environs to serious panic.

Findings showed that affected areas included Epe garage, Ejinrin Road, Adefisan, Ibadan garage, Onirugba, Tatina and the old Benin-Ondo Road, among others. It was learnt a woman and her daughter, who were in a commercial tricycle, were shot dead during a clash by cultists. Our correspondent gathered that members of a rival cult targeted the tricycle rider, who belonged to another group.

It was further gathered that members of the dreaded group also killed an apprentice after his arm had been chopped off during another clash. Several persons were reportedly killed at Epe garage, Ejinrin Road, Ibadan garage and Adefisan during the clashes, which forced residents and passers-by to run helter-skelter. It was further gathered that other persons lost their lives in Onirugba, old Benin-Ondo Road and Oke-Owa areas of the town.

Two persons were reportedly killed behind a popular hotel in Oke-Aje, Ijebu Ode. The cultists reportedly engaged in daylight shooting of their rivals and in the process killed some innocent persons in the area. Also in some parts of Abeokuta, the state capital, and Ado-Odo/Ota, cultists have thrown caution to the wind and unleash terror.

The National Schools Crimes Prevention Corps (NSCPC), a non-governmental organisation, has described the issue of cultism in Ogun State as worrisome, dreadful and scary. Commandant of the NSCPC, Dr Ige Folayinka, who provided statistics of cult activities in secondary schools in the state, said in the last few months, there have been rising activities of cultists in Abeokuta, Ijebu Ode, Sagamu, Ilaro, Ado-Odo, Sango Ota and other cities.

Folayinka said it had been a tale of students in secondary schools attacking one another with weapons and charms. A week ago, many students were stabbed during a violent clash that ensued between two schools at the back of the skating ground in Panseke, Abeokuta. The clash happened shortly after the school hour as some students of notable schools around the area, who were in uniforms, threw caution to the wind. One of the students was reportedly badly injured and is on admission in an undisclosed hospital and on the verge of losing his sight.

Folayinka disclosed that pupils of two prominent schools in Abeokuta, who had been at daggers drawn in the Ita-Eko area of Abeokuta had a serious fight that attracted ‘allied forces’ from neighbouring schools to support one of the schools. The fight left a tale of woes, bloodletting and maiming as weapons such as daggers, axes and charms were recovered.

A notorious gang of students reportedly invaded a particular school on motorcycles, ordered a female teacher they met on the ground to go on her knees, after which they allegedly removed the school’s signpost. It took the intervention of the crime prevention outfit corps, who went after them, to recover the signpost. It was further gathered that during one of the clashes, a student had one of his ears nearly chopped off and was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Chronicling the menace of cultism in secondary schools in the state, Folayinka said no fewer than 2,500 students had been arrested for cultism. He added that over 250 schools in the state had been visited for enlightenment. He explained that many secondary school students, who are cultists, had been arrested for various offences, including possession of firearms, attacking teachers with charms, setting school buildings ablaze and smoking of weed, among others.

Folayinka stated, “A teacher was attacked with a charm by a student, which led to loss of memory. We have arrested students with AK-47 live bullets, knives, axes and swords. In fact, we arrested a student, who is a cultist and who attempted to kill his teacher with a charmed ring. We were called by the principal of the school that one of the students wanted to kill a teacher with a charm. We interviewed all the students and fortunately, we got the student and he confessed to the plan.

“A student double-crossed his teacher, because he almost used her car to knock him down. A student in the Oke-Ilewo area wanted to burn down a school. Another 12 students were arrested for attempting to burn down their school.”

On efforts made so far to prevent and curb the menace of cultism in schools, Folayinka said the NSCPC, which began operation 9 years ago, did not have the power to arrest and prosecute, adding that what the corps was doing was to arrest the student cultists and rehabilitate them.

He stated, “We go after them and after we arrest them, we take them to their principals, who will identify them, and we take them to our office for 2 weeks’ rehabilitation programme. But, we do it after we have invited their parents and they agree we should go ahead with the rehabilitation. We release them after our clinical psychologist has certified them. They sign an affidavit and we release them.”

Giving statistics of cultists the command has arrested, the state police command disclosed it had arrested over 500 members of various cults between 2019 and 2020. State Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, attributed cultism to kidnapping, armed robbery, murder and other violent crimes. He added that the command arrested no fewer than 432 cultists in various locations in the state in 2019, while over 100 had been arrested in 2020.

He said some of the arrested cultists, who repented, were given amnesty and reintegrated into society. “No fewer than 432 cultists were arrested and prosecuted in 2019. We screened those found guilty of cult-related activities and they were sent to courts for prosecution. Without a doubt, a country that entrusts its future in the hands of youths imbued with the very essence and orientation of cultism, is one without the right compass for growth and development. At this stage of our national life, we need youths with the right values and orientation to take the country to greater heights of competitiveness, recognition and respect in the comity of nations.

A few weeks ago, men of the state police command arrested 5 suspected members of a dreaded cult with the corpse of a young man suspected to be a cultist too. The suspects, Babatunde Shittu, 25; Ayobami Morenikeji, 15; Fidelis John, 23; Abdullah Adegbenro, 17; and Oyeyemi Bakare, 20, were arrested at Ilo Awela in Sango, Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of the state. Police PRO in the state, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said they were arrested following a distress call received at the Sango Area Command headquarters.

He said the police were told a group of cultists were seen with a male corpse in a tricycle heading towards Ota with all of them holding weapons like cutlasses, cudgels and sticks. According to him, upon the distress call, the Area Commander, Sango Ota, ACP Monday Agbonnika, quickly mobilised patrol team to the area, where the hoodlums were met on rampage destroying people’s property and stealing from innocent members of the public on the Ilo Awela Road.

The PPRO added that the hoodlums had, before arrival of the police, damaged a Highlander SUV with number plate KJA 275GD belonging to one Emmanuel Adekoya. Oyeyemi said the corpse had been recovered from them and deposited at Ifo General Hospital’s mortuary.

SOURCE (abridged): https://punchng.com/ogun-battles-cultism-headache-in-secondary-schools-as-teenage-cultists-unleash-terror/